The Petitioner is not entitled to
relief. The Board reaches that conclusion for the following reasons:
a) The Petitioner may have made a
mistake when it reported the Equipment for assessment and taxation in
2006-2008. Unfortunately, the Petitioner did not take the statutorily required
steps to correct that mistake.
b) Indiana’s personal property
tax system is based on taxpayers’ self-assessments. Every person owning,
holding, possessing, or controlling personal property that has an Indiana tax
situs on March 1 of a year must file a personal property tax return. 50 IAC
4.2-2-2; see also, I.C. § 6-1.1-3-7.
c) If an assessing official
believes that a taxpayer’s return is inaccurate, the official must notify the
taxpayer of his changes, and the taxpayer can then seek review of that determination.
See I.C. § 6-1.1-3-20 (requiring an assessing official to give notice if
he changes the valuation on a taxpayer’s return); I.C. § 6-1.1-15-1(a)-(c)
(providing that a taxpayer may seek review of an assessor’s action within 45
days of being given notice of that action).
d) By contrast, if a taxpayer
wants to correct errors in its own self-reported assessment, it must file an
amended return. At the times relevant to these appeals, the statute governing
amended returns provided, in relevant part:
(a) A taxpayer may file an
amended personal property tax return, in conformity with the rules adopted by
the department of local government finance, not more than six (6) months after
the later of the following:
(1) The filing date for the
original personal property tax return, if the taxpayer is not granted and
extension in which to file under section 7 of this chapter.
(2) The extension date for the
original personal property tax return, if the taxpayer is granted an extension
under section 7 of this chapter.
….
(c) If a taxpayer wishes to
correct an error made by the taxpayer on the
taxpayer’s original personal property tax return, the taxpayer must file an
amended personal property tax return under this section within the time
required by subsection (a). A taxpayer may claim on an amended personal
property tax return any adjustment or exemption that would have been allowable
under any statute or rule adopted by the department of local government finance
if the adjustment or exemption had been claimed on the original personal
property tax return.
I.C. § 6-1.1-3-7.5 (repl. vol.
2006) (emphasis added). The requirement for filing an amended return applies
even where, as the Petitioner has alleged happened in this case, an error in
the original return leads to double taxation. See I.C. § 6-1.1-15-12(a) and
(g).1
e) The undisputed evidence shows
that the Petitioner reported the Equipment for assessment on its personal
property returns. No assessing official changed the Petitioner’s self-reported
assessments. Thus, to the extent the Petitioner believes that it erred in
filing its returns, its remedy was not to file appeals under Ind. Code § 6-1.1-15-1,
but rather to file amended returns. Unfortunately, the Petitioner failed to do so.
Under those circumstances, the Petitioner is not entitled to any relief.
http://www.in.gov/ibtr/2536.htm
